Has college football become too fast and unsafe?

Alabama coach Nick Saban, whose program annually produces some of the nation’s most ferocious defenses, said that might be the case. Speaking on the SEC coaches’ teleconference on Wednesday, Saban asked, “Is this what we want football to be?”

Player safety was Saban’s primary concern.

“I think that the way people are going no-huddle right now, that at some point in time we should look at how fast we allow games to go in terms of player safety,” Saban said. “You can’t substitute defensive players, you go on a 14-, 16-, 18-play drive and they’re snapping the ball as fast as they can and you look out there and all your players are walking around and can’t even get lined up.

“I mean that’s when guys have a much greater chance of getting hurt when they’re not ready to play. I think that’s something that can be looked at.”

College football is coming off the second highest scoring weekend since 1937, according to the Elias Sports Bureau, with 60.9 combined total points scored in the 52 games involved FBS teams. The most offensive game occurred in Morgantown, W.Va., where West Virginia outlasted Baylor 70-63.

But the tsunami of points even struck the defensive-minded SEC. Georgia defeated Tennessee 51-44.

Saban, whose Crimson Tide shut out LSU 21-0 in the BCS National Championship Game last season, wondered if the game was headed in the right direction.

“It’s obviously created a tremendous advantage for the offense when teams are scoring 70 points…I think there has to be some sense of fairness in terms of asking, “Is this what we want football to be?”

At least one player supplied a response. From his twitter account, Missouri wide receiver T.J. Moe answered, “Sure is.”